Hassan Istiila
Tuesday February 27, 2024
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will attend the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), which commenced at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday.
The five-day UNEA-6 conference will bring together almost 5,000 delegates from the 193 United Nations (UN) Member States, including Heads of State and Government. The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEP) is the world's highest-level decision-making body for matters related to the environment.
Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi, and the Somali Ambassador to Kenya, Ambassador Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle, participated in the conference opening on Tuesday. President Mohamed is expected to join them on Wednesday.
The core objective of the conference includes fostering harmony between humanity and nature while enhancing the well-being of the world's most vulnerable populations.
During a press briefing in Nairobi, Inger Andersen, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated that 20 resolutions would be discussed, negotiated, and adopted at the assembly, injecting fresh momentum into the global quest to secure a resilient, green, and inclusive future for humanity.
This year's conference coincides with the Somali government's enactment of the Environmental Protection and Management Law, which President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed into law last Sunday. The Act provides for sustainable environmental protection and management, effectively allocating administrative responsibilities for environmental management and coordinating ecological management and related activities.
Last year, the Somali government initiated the National Regreening Initiative to plant 10 million trees across Somalia to boost biodiversity and climate resilience and curb deforestation amid devastating droughts.
Somalia, one of the countries hardest hit by climate change, faces significant challenges, including environmental crimes, lack of adequate laws protecting the environment, deforestation, and toxic dumping along the Somali coastline, which have been major challenges since the collapse of the central government in 1991. However, environmentalists now believe the new law will help the government safeguard the environment.
Due to climate shocks, the recent El Niño rains have affected more than 2.5 million people in Somalia, leading to the displacement of 1.2 million people from their homes and causing 118 deaths. A total of 2,943 new cholera cases and 26 deaths have been reported in Somalia since January 2024.